that Australia was awaiting a chance to become unfriendly to Great Britain when she started to fight. But no nation ever made a greater mistake. As soon as the House of Hohenzollern placed the mother country in a perilous position Australia was at the command of Great Britain. Notwithstanding the fact that the Australians are primarily peace-loving, most intent on attending to their own affairs, the response to the call was immediate and whole-hearted.

AUSTRALIA'S COMMENDABLE PROMPTNESS.

The Australian centers buzzed with activity, and within two months after war was declared the Australian fleet, which consisted of five unarmored cruisers, three torpedo-boat destroyers, and three light gunboats, which had been built and manned at the expense of the Australians, were in possession of the German Pacific Islands-Samoa, Marshall, Carolines, Pelew, Ladrones, New Guinea, New Britain-had broken the wireless system of the Germans, and had captured eleven of the vessels of Germany. She also forced twenty-five other ships to intern, and prevented the destruction of a British ship in Australian waters.

Then came the scouring of the seas by the German ship Emden, and her trip to Australian waters, with the object of carrying on the work of destruction which had marked her career in South American waters. She lay in wait for Australian transports, with the result that the Australian warship Sydney sent her to the bottom but three months after war had been declared. Shortly after this the Australian fleet drove von Spree's squadron from the Pacific directly into the trap set by Admiral Sturdee at the Falkland Islands.

The fact that all the troops of Australia must be transported to London-a distance via the Suez route of approximately 11,000 miles, and through the Panama Canal of 12,734 miles did not keep back these brave men from quickly enlisting. The great distance made fighting extremely expensive,

but the task was loyally assumed by the military of the far continent. Universal military service was inaugurated for the first time by an English-speaking community, and war loans were offered and quickly accepted. Transports were immediately constructed out of seventy steamers which were requisitioned.

At the declaration of war in November, 1914, the entire Australian army, which consisted of 20,000 men, left Australia for Egypt, and at the end of the first year of the conflict there were 76,000 men in the field. By July, 1916, nearly 300,000 volunteers had been recruited and had crossed the seas. The creation, equipment, and supplying of this army by the people of Australia, a task involving enormous cost and personal sacrifice, constitutes a thrilling chapter in the history of loyalty.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ALIKE.

To those who think that Australia is a little island situated in the Pacific ocean it might be interesting to know that this continent, in size and shape, is almost the exact duplicate of the United States. There are also outlying provinces, that of Papua, a tropical land, offsetting Alaska. Then there is the rich little Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. The surface of Australia is the most level in surface and regular in outline of all the continents, and is the lowest continent, with an average elevation of Ohio.

There are 2,974,581 square miles in Australia, while the land area of the United States is 2,973,890 square miles, a difference of 691 square miles. This, of course, is only the continental United States. Only about one-twentieth of the total area of Australia lies in a latitude farther removed from the Equator than Chattanooga, Tennessee; Clarendon, Texas; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and there is less than one-third of the area of this unique continent which lies in a cooler latitude than the sugar-cane lands of Louisiana.

The streams of Australia are fewer and carry less water than those of any other continent. The heart of this great

island is dry and barren and thinly populated. Most of the inhabitants are found within easy reach of the coastline. The population of this great land, at the census of 1911, was 4,568,

707 persons.

New Zealand is situated a little more than 1200 miles to the east of Sydney, which is in the southeastern section of Australia. It consists of three fairly large islands, together with a number of small adjacent islands. The area is 105,340 square miles, the population being, in 1911, 815,862. The surface of the principal islands is diversified, being mountainous in some parts, and undulating in others. The best harbors are in the northern district.

CHAPTER XX

AMERICA STEPS IN.

PRESIDENT WILSON'S FAMOUS MESSAGE TO CONGRESS-THE WAR RESOLUTION— APRIL 6, 1917 SEES THE UNITED STATES AT WAR-REVIEW OF THE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN GERMANY AND AMERICA THE U-BOAT RESTRICTED ZONE ANNOUNCEMENT OF GERMANY-PREMIER LLOYD GEORGE ON AMERICA IN THE CON

FLICT.

HE hoisting of the American flag to the top of the staff

of Congress in authorizing President Wilson to declare a state of war existed between Germany and the United States. What the conditions were which developed during the months in which Germany to all intents and purposes "laughed up her sleeve" at the United States, ignored our protests against her wanton disregard of human rights on land and sea, can no better be told than in the words of President Wilson himself in his message stating the position which the Government took.

His message to Congress will go down in history, not only as an instrument of world-wide importance, but as a classic in literature. Its effect on the Nations was greater than that of any other message issued by any one country, probably in the history of the world, and while there were critics who regarded some of President Wilson's utterances as too idealistic, time proved that his vision was greater than that of those who criticised him, and within a short time the eyes of the entire world were turned toward Washington, which became the active centre from which the campaign for world-wide democracy was waged.

The hands of Liberty stretched out to Russia, Serbia, Italy, France, Belgium, England, little Montenegro, and they were given help in the most critical periods of their careers. The President's message was presented to Congress on April 3, 1917, as follows:

"I have called the Congress into extraordinary session be

cause there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the responsibility of making.

"On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean.

COMMANDERS UNDER RESTRAINT.

"That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. "The precautions taken were meager and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance in the progress of the cruel and unmanly business; but a certain degree of restraint was observed.

"The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents.

"Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter